2012 International Blues Challenge finalists HowellDevine is the kind of blues you don't hear anymore. The raw slide guitar played by Joshua Howell evokes the Mississippi Hill Country greats like Fred McDowell and RL Burnside.

The rhythm section of drummer and percussionist Pete Devine, along with the bass of either Safa Shokrai or Joe Kyle Jr., breaks from the norm in blues, providing rich and complex textures integral to the music rather than a simple backing section for a soloist.

The result is a sound which stands in stark contrast to the typical blues heard in bars these days and would more likely be shaking the floors of a Southern juke joint some 70 years ago. HowellDevine brings life back to that sound, infusing the rural blues with their own unique style.